Deal with corruption

Negative images of Jordan harm its attractiveness as an investment hub and its branding as a country where rights are fully protected.

Can Jordan afford being labelled as a country that suffers from high corruption levels? Definitely not.

So why is Jordan’s ranking slipping in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI) year after year? And what should be done now to remedy the situation?

Jordan’s ranking, according to the CPI, has slipped from 50th in 2010 to 56th in 2011, just before the start of the Arab Spring.

Matters related to corruption did not improve with the rise of conflict throughout the region.

Seemingly, efforts against corruption escalated, but Jordan continued to slide in ranking, reaching 58th in 2012.

In 2013, the ranking worsened, reaching 66th, making Jordan the sixth most corrupt Arab country. In other words, in spite of the “rush” to accuse and penalise, capriciously at times, the country’s ominous ranking worsened.

Not only were decisions to launch investigations capricious, the investigations themselves, which sometimes involved hundreds of millions of dinars, were quick and unquestionably simplistic in their nature and approach, especially when it came to technical matters.

For instance, in determining whether a certain executive had made illegal deals, the investigators used quick and easy benchmarks that were indefensible to determine claimed losses and apply them without any serious study or questioning of their scientific/objective validity and relevance.

Lack of capacity, coupled with the resolve to act quickly, may have been behind many immature acts. Based on the benchmarks utilised, large sums of money were calculated and publicly announced, thus exaggerating claimed (yet unproven) damages.

In the process, Jordan became wrongly branded as a hotbed of corruption.

Not only were the publicised sums unreal, in many cases, the amounts and the public fanfare that surrounded them made it impossible for a reasonably quick resolution/settlement, which could have been reached if the damages had been actually proven.

Big, showy, trials detract from true investigations, especially when the trials involve big names and public figures.

The damage that ensued magnified the perception of the country as corrupt, both at home and abroad. 

Jordan must quickly resolve the lingering cases using rational and relevant benchmarks, while keeping the overall welfare of the nation in mind.

Sensationalism, negative PR and devil-may-care attitudes should be avoided.

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